Bottle carrier

ABSTRACT

A carrier for a plurality of containers in package form, such as a six-pack, and including a sheet of elastic material apertured in accordance with the number of containers to be supported thereby and defining constrictive apertures to receive and snugly engage the upper ends of corresponding containers; and further including a band portion initially disposed around the carrier sheet in substantially the plane thereof and integral therewith at frangible and generally permanent connection areas with the frangible areas breaking when the band portion is moved downwardly to encircle and confine the intermediate body portions of the packaged containers and with the generally permanent connection areas then forming inclined strap portions connecting the band portion to the carrier sheet.

United States Patent [191 Bolton Jan. 8, 1974 1 BOTTLE CARRIER 22 Filed: Sept. 22,1972

21 Appl. No.: 291,517

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 78,527, Oct. 6, 1970,

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Great Britain 224/45 AA Primary Examiner-William T. Dixson, Jr. Attorney-Robert W. Beart et al.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A carrier for a plurality of containers in package form, such as a six-pack, and including a sheet of elastic material apertured in accordance with the number of containers to be supported thereby and defining constrictive apertures to receive and snugly engage the upper ends of corresponding containers; and further including a band portion initially disposed around the carrier sheet in substantially the plane thereof and integral therewith at frangible and generally permanent connection areas with the frangible areas breaking when the band portion is moved downwardly to encircle and confine the intermediate body portions of the packaged containers and with the generally permanent connection areas then forming inclined strap portions connecting the band portion to the carrier sheet.

6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAN 8:914 3.784.003

[NVENTOR F4975 Herberf 5. BO/mn His Afl'ys BOTTLE CARRIER This a continuation, of application Ser. No. 78,527 filed Oct. 6, 1970 now abandoned.

This invention is concerned with improvements in a container carrier generally of the type shown in the Poupitch US. Pat. No. 3,084,792.

In this type of carrier, the sheet material is provided with a plurality of apertures each receiving and snugly engaging the upper end of a corresponding container making up the container package and serving to support the package for transport. Initially a band portion peripherally surrounds the carrier sheet and is connected thereto by spaced weak connections which are broken when the band portion is moved downwardly to a position encircling and engaging intermediate body portions of the containers in the package. Thus, the band portion is completely separated from the carrier sheet in the package and is subject to inadvertent separation from the package during use and in which event the container body portions will be subject to looseness and possible breakage under rough handling.

An object of the present invention is to provide a carrier wherein the apertured carrier sheet portion and the band portion remain connected when the band portion engages the intermediate body portions of the containers in the package to prevent separation of the band portion from the package.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carrier of the above type wherein the connection between the band portion and the apertured carrier sheet portion is in the form of strap portions inclined between the carrier sheet portion and the band portion in the package unit.

A further object of the invention is to provide a carrier of the above type which initially is in flat sheet form with the band portion extending peripherally around the carrier sheet portion andjoined thereto by the strap portions and by frangible connections which break when the band portion is moved downwardly to encircle container body portions in the ultimate package unit.

A still further object of the invention is to selectively space one leg of the band portion from the carrier sheet in relation to adjacent ends of the strap portions to facilitate downward movement of the band and strap portions into package encircling position.

The invention further provides a carrier of the above type which can be conveniently formed in continuous strip form for mass production and assembly with containers making up the package.

The above and other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will be hereinafter more fully pointed out in connection with the detail description of the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an assembled package of containers in the form of bottles;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the carrier blank to make up the package of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a modified carrier blank to make up a six-pack in which the strap portions will be at the ends of the completed package.

In FIG. 1 of the drawing there is shown a six-pack of bottles having crimped-on closure caps 12. The necks of the bottles project through corresponding apertures 14 in a carrier sheet 16 of elastic and somewhat stretchable plastic material, such as polyethylene or the like, with the material around each aperture 14 stretched incident to the bottle necks being passed therethrough so as to constrictively grip and support the same in the package for transport. For this purpose, the carrier sheet 16 has spaced openings 18, 18a for finger gripping or handle insertion. Additionally, the bottles 10 in the package of FIG. 1 are encircled and snugly gripped by a band portion 20 around the intermediate body portions and this band portion remains integrally attached to the carrier sheet 16 by inclined straps 26, 26a which, with the carrier sheet 16 and band portion 20, are formed from the blanks of FIG. 2 to which reference will be made below.

As shown in FIG. 2, the blank includes the central carrier sheet 16 with the apertures 14 and lifting openings 18, 18a; the band portion peripherally surrounding the carrier sheet, and the strap portions 26, 26a. The band 20 includes opposite side length portions 21, 22 and opposite end length portions 23, 24 with the side portions 21, 22 joined to the end portion 23 by transversely wider junction portions 28, 28a, respectively, and with these junction portions 28, 28a, in turn, joined to the adjacent ends of the strap portions 26, 260, respectively. The opposite ends of the straps 26, 26a are integral with the carrier sheet but with slits 30, 30a separating the intermediate adjacent edges thereof from the carrier sheet. These slits 30, 30a terminate at narrow webs 32, 32a forming weakened sections to break when the band 20 is moved downwardly to encircle the containers as shown in FIG. 1. The opposite edges of the straps 26, 26a are likewise separated from the side portions 21, 22 of the band by slits 34, 34a, respectively, which terminate at narrow webs 36, 36a also forming weakened sections to break when the band is moved downwardly to the position of FIG. 1. A slit 38 extends between the webs 36, 36a separating the end portion 24 of the band from the carrier sheet. At the opposite end there is a wider opening 40 between the end portion 23 of the band and the adjacent end of the carrier sheet to permit the downward movement of the band 20 with resultant inclination of the straps to the position of FIG. 1 in the package assembly.

A modified blank for the carrier is shown in FIG. 3 with the strap portions 42, 42a at the ends of the carrier sheet 16 rather than along the sides thereof as in FIG. 2. In this form of blank, the band includes end portions 44, 44a and side portions 46, 46a with the end portions and adjacent ends of the straps integral with junction portions 48, 48a, respectively. The side portion 46a of the band is separated from the carrier sheet by a slit 50 terminating at narrow webs 52, 52a forming weakened sections and slits 54, 54a continue from these webs 52, 52a, to the junction portions 48, 48a, respectively, to separate the end portions 44, 44a of the band from the carrier sheet and the strap portions. The side portion 46 of the band is separated from the carrier sheet by a relatively wide slot 56, comparable to the slot 40 in the form of FIG. 2, this slot 56 terminating at narrow webs 58, 58a from which narrow slits 60, 60a continue to separate the strap portions from the carrier sheet.

In the blanks of both FIGS. 2 and 3, the central carrier sheet 16 is provided with six apertures 14 to make up a six-pack of the type shown in FIG. 1, each with finger grip or handle insertion openings 18, 18a. In associating the filled and capped bottles 10 with the carrier sheet 16, they are passed through a corresponding aperture 14.with the carrier sheet material around each aperture being stretched by the bottle cap 12 passing therethrough and then recovering under its inherent elasticity to snugly grip the bottle neck beneath the cap flange for supporting the bottles as in the aforementioned US. Pat. No. 3,084,792; or to grip the bottle necks below beads 100 now found in many bottles; or to snugly engage such beads with the free edges of the aperture material disposed below the cap flanges. To then complete the package for shipment, transport, storage, etc., the band of the blank of FIG. 2 is moved downwardly to the position of FIG. 1, breaking the'weakened web portions 32, 32a and 36, 36a, and with the relatively wide slot 40 permitting movement of the strap portions 26, 26a to the inclined position as shown in FIG. 1, that is, at the sides of the package inclining from the junction portions 28, 28a to the end corners of the carrier sheet. When so manipulating the blank of FIG. 3, the weakened webs 52, 52a and 58, 58a will break as the band side and end portions are moved downwardly with the slot 56 permitting movement of the strap portions 42, 42a to inclinded positions at the ends of the package and inclined from the junction portions 48, 48a to the side corners of the carrier sheet. In either form of blank, the band is stretched slightly as it is moved downwardly to encircie the intermediate body portions of the bottles, cans or the like in the package with the straps maintaining the band integrally connected to the carrier sheet and with the band elastically engaging the intermediate body portions of the bottles to eliminate looseness therebetween and thus prevent the same from knocking together during handling of the package unit.

I claim:

1. A carrier blank for supporting a plurality of containers in package form for transport, and comprising a generally flat rectangular carrier sheet apertures in accordance with the number and arrangement of containers to be associated therewith, a band portion surrounding the carrier sheet and initially joined thereto by spaced frangible connections, a pair of straps with one disposed between opposite lengths of the band portion and the adjacent opposite edges of the carrier sheet, one end of each strap joined to the carrier sheet adjacent a corner thereof and the other end of each strap joined to opposite lengths of the band portion by a junction portion, said junction portions being disposed along opposite edges of the carrier sheet and remote from the strap connections with the carrier sheet and connected with the carrier sheet by frangible connections, a length of said band portion along one edge of the carrier sheet between said junction portions being spaced a greater distance from the adjacent marginal edge of the carrier sheet than the comparable opposite length of the band portion to facilitate downward movement of the straps and junction portions as the frangible connections are broken when the band portion is moved downwardly to encircle the outer surfaces of the intermediate body portions of containers in the made up package, and handle grip means associated with the carrier sheet.

2. A carrier blank as claimed in claim 1, wherein the straps are disposed between the band portion and the adjacent edge of the carrier sheet with certain of said frangible connections joining the band portion and the straps.

3. A carrier blank as claimed in claim 2, wherein the frangibly connected straps and band portion are disposed along the sides of the carrier sheet with the band portion length at greater spacing from the carrier sheet being along an end thereof.

4. A carrier blank as claimed in claim 1, wherein the straps are disposed between the band portion and adjacent ends of the carrier sheet with certain of said frangible connections joining the band portion to the carrier sheet along a side thereof and with the band portion length at greater spacing from the carrier sheet being along the side thereof opposite to said certain frangible connections.

5. A carrier blank as claimed in claim I, wherein the junction portions are disposed at opposite sides of the carrier sheet.

6. A carrier sheet as claimed in claim 1, wherein the junction portions are disposed at opposite ends of the carrier sheet. 

1. A carrier blank for supporting a plurality of containers in package form for transport, and comprising a generally flat rectangular carrier sheet apertures in accordance with the number and arrangement of containers to be associated therewith, a band portion surrounding the carrier sheet and initially joined thereto by spaced frangible connections, a pair of straps with one disposed between opposite lengths of the band portion and the adjacent opposite edges of the carrier sheet, one end of each strap joined to the carrier sheet adjacent a corner thereof and the other end of each strap joined to opposite lengths of the band portion by a junction portion, said junction portions being disposed along opposite edges of the carrier sheet and remote from the strap connections with the carrier sheet and connected with the carrier sheet by frangible connections, a length of said band portion along one edge of the carrier sheet between said junction portions being spaced a greater distance from the adjacent marginal edge of the carrier sheet than the comparable opposite length of the band portion to facilitate downward movement of the straps and junction portions as the frangible connections are broken when the band portion is moved downwardly to encircle the outer surfaces of the intermediate body portions of containers in the made up package, and handle grip means associated with the carrier sheet.
 2. A carrier blank as claimed in claim 1, wherein the straps are disposed between the band portion and the adjacent edge of the carrier sheet with certain of said frangible connections joining the band portion and the straps.
 3. A carrier blank as claimed in claim 2, wherein the frangibly connected straps and band portion are disposed along the sides of the carrier sheet with the band portion length at greater spacing from the carrier sheet being along an end thereof.
 4. A carrier blank as claimed in claim 1, wherein the straps are disposed between the band portion and adjacent ends of the carrier sheet with certain of said frangible connections joining the band portion to the carrier sheet along a side thereof and with the band portion length at greater spacing from the carrier sheet being along the side thereof opposite to said certain frangible connections.
 5. A carrier blank as claimed in claim 1, wherein the junction portions are disposed at opposite sides of the carrier sheet.
 6. A carrier sheet as claimed in claim 1, wherein the junction portions are disposed at opposite ends of the carrier sheet. 